Blog Post

5 Old-School Recruiting & Hiring Tactics That Need to Be Retired

Recruiting and hiring isn’t the same as it was only a few years ago. Companies are now fiercely competing with each other to attract talented candidates. The ones that are winning are using technology to hire smarter and faster.

While there is no perfect way to recruit and hire, there are some approaches that no longer resonate with candidates. In this blog post, we’ll explore five outdated tactics that should be retired in favor of more modern strategies:

Not providing insight into the employee experience

Every job searcher has come across a listing for a position they can do, only to see the company’s careers page doesn’t offer much of an idea of what it’s like to work there. Desperate people will apply to a company they know nothing about. But top candidates won’t waste their time. They’ll look for opportunities that give more information up front.

Your company’s website is a marketing tool used to convert visitors into customers. Take the same approach with your careers page, except strive to convert visitors into applicants. Talk about your company’s philosophy, people, workplace and benefits. Include photos and videos of your staff at work and play and testimonials from smiling employees. Just like a marketer does, measure the page’s performance and make adjustments as needed.

Using the same interview process for every type of candidate

Candidates are not all one in the same and shouldn’t be treated as such. Some are a higher priority than others and need to be put through a different hiring process. This is especially true when hiring for senior level roles since candidates with the right skills and background can be few and far between.

When an impressive candidate applies or responds to a recruiter’s outreach, you need to strike while the iron is hot. Don’t schedule an interview for next week. Try to meet with them right away to discuss the position and their interest in it.

You’ll have a pool of suitable candidates to sort through for most the roles you hire for. In these cases, following your company’s standard hiring game-plan is fine. But you’ll occasionally need to call an audible to secure a great candidate before another company snatches them up.

Ignoring applicants who previously applied

You’ve probably interviewed some great people that didn’t quite make the cut. We tell these candidates they’re impressive and encourage them to apply to future openings. But that just comes across as a nice way of getting rejected.

When new roles open, recruiters and hiring managers should re-engage these quality candidates. Every person who has applied to your company has a profile stored in your applicant tracking system (ATS). You can search your database for previous candidates who might be a good fit for new roles and find out if they’re still interested in joining your company.

Lacking a personal touch with reaching out to prospects

Talented people receive emails and cold calls from recruiters on a daily basis. Unless they’re searching for a new gig, they don’t give these messages much attention. And why should they? These communications too often lack any details about why the recruiter is interested in them.

Do your homework and give the candidate a reason to respond. Reference impressive work they’ve done (“We loved your webinar”), their current or previous employer (“We’re striving to become the next Company X”) or a person who is in both your networks (“I see you know Mary too. She’s familiar with our company”).

It’s never been easier to learn about people’s professional background. Add a personal touch to your communications and candidates will feel compelled to respond.

Taking months to make a hiring decision

Top candidates won’t go through a multi-month hiring process and even mediocre ones may be offered another position along the way. Companies need to move faster than they used to if they hope to hire the best people in today’s competitive landscape.

The good news is recruiting and hiring software can drastically reduce the time it takes for your company to find the perfect candidate. You can efficiently create and post job listings, review applicants, assign tasks to team members and collect feedback – all within the software. Instead of spending months reviewing resumes and herding the hiring team, you can streamline the process and make quick yet smart decisions.

Get with the times

Old-school hiring tactics have run their course and are no longer effective. Continuing to rely on approaches like these will only waste time and resources. But even worse, these tactics will turn off candidates who could potentially have a huge impact on your business. So get with the times and use recruiting and hiring technology to engage with candidates the right way.